Story by

Joan Gandy

The Natchez Democrat

Denise Griggs began digging for family information and indeed found her roots.

The California native, 56, has visited Natchez many times, always on a genealogy search, she said.

Because of the distance between northern California and Mississippi, Griggs has learned to use the Internet, also. Finding helpful sites and meeting other genealogists, she is piecing together the story of her mother&8217;s family.

Amanda Hunt Griggs, now 81, a few years ago moved to California to live with her daughter. Amanda Hunt Griggs grew up in Natchez and is descended from slaves whose first Mississippi home was a plantation in Amite County.

Denise Griggs recalled her first visit to Natchez. She was 8. &8220;We were supposed to go to Mississippi just as soon as we got out of school,&8221; she said. &8220;And we were excited because my twin (sister) and I were supposed to meet our Mom&8217;s grandfather, who she just really loved and talked about a lot.&8221;

Only a month before the visit, the grandfather, Wilbert Hunt, died. &8220;My mom was so upset until Dad said that we were going anyway so she could attend his funeral, and he went and bought a new car.&8221;

Along the way, the siblings practiced songs they planned to sing to relatives when they arrived in Natchez. &8220;Finally, we were going to meet at least one parent&8217;s real parents and see where Mom and Dad lived (Dad&8217;s family in Arkansas) &8212; a real school geography field trip. And it was 1958.&8221;

The first trip planted the seeds of curiosity about the family. As years passed, Denise Griggs wanted to know more.

By 1999, her zeal for genealogy prompted her to found the African American Genealogy Society of Sacramento, Calif. &8220;I was its president until last year,&8221; she said.

Griggs, at age 40, returned to college to complete her B.A. degree in theology and Christian education at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa. She went on to earn a master&8217;s degree in education-curriculum design.

&8220;My maternal grandmother (Bertel Hunt, whom she first met on the 1958 trip to Mississippi), who only had a third-grade education and was a sharecropper for many years, always encouraged me to go as far as I could go and learn as much as I could, as she always regretted not being able to see who she could be in life,&8221; Griggs said.

In 2004, Griggs visited her mother&8217;s sister in New Orleans. She was aware there were a few family photos. She found a gold mine.

At first, her aunt hesitated to share the pictures. But once Griggs showed how she could scan a photograph onto her laptop, &8220;she went into her room and came back out with pictures I had never seen before. So I scanned them, too.&8221;

The timing was good, Griggs said. &8220;Thankfully, I had the copies of the pictures when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans the following year,&8221; she said. &8220;Auntie&8217;s place didn&8217;t suffer too much but ended up being overrun by vermin and varmints, as my grandmother would have said.&8221;

Griggs learned that her great-great grandfather, Deck Hunt, founded a church in Roxie that still exists.

&8220;It is named the New Jerusalem Baptist Church, just between Kirby and Roxie,&8221; she said.

&8220;There has been remodeling and a monument is there with a dedication to our ancestor. They spelled it as Deke Hunt, but every record I have found has his name as Deck Hunt, as my grandfather pronounced it.&8221;

She also learned about an ancestor who was in the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War. &8220;I also have a copy of his pension application beginning with 1890.

Digging as deep as she could, Griggs found information on the Irish family who owned the plantation where her ancestors came to live and work as slaves.

Henry Hunt, son of Fitzmaurice Hunt, was the slave owner. The family came to America from County Tipperary, with more than 300 other people in the mid 1700s, Griggs said.

&8220;Most all returned to Ireland due to the impending revolution except for Fitz and his two brothers, Thomas and William.

&8220;They served in the American Revolution in Georgia and received bounties and land grants prior to relocating to Amite County,&8221; she said.

Griggs has researched at both the Natchez City Cemetery and the National Cemetery; she has transcribed from microfilm numerous African-American marriage records from the late 1880s to early 1900.

She has used National Archives records; &8220;Paths of Population of Diffusion &8212; Immigrants to U.S.; and numerous other archives.

The rich resources in African-American history in Natchez and surrounding communities are commodities that can be tapped, Griggs said.

She said she hopes someday those resources will be have a more prominent role in attracting researchers to Natchez.

&8220;It would be a shame not to highlight some of the successes and diverseness of our history,&8221; she said. &8220;One can only imagine the revenues that it would bring to the cities in your area.&8221;

Story by

Joan gandy

The Natchez Democrat

Denise Griggs began digging for family information and indeed found her roots.

The California native, 56, has visited Natchez many times, always on a genealogy search, she said.

Because of the distance between northern California and Mississippi, Griggs has learned to use the Internet, also. Finding helpful sites and meeting other genealogists, she is piecing together the story of her mother&8217;s family.

Amanda Hunt Griggs, now 81, a few years ago moved to California to live with her daughter. Amanda Hunt Griggs grew up in Natchez and is descended from slaves whose first Mississippi home was a plantation in Amite County.

Denise Griggs recalled her first visit to Natchez. She was 8. &8220;We were supposed to go to Mississippi just as soon as we got out of school,&8221; she said. &8220;And we were excited because my twin (sister) and I were supposed to meet our Mom&8217;s grandfather, who she just really loved and talked about a lot.&8221;

Only a month before the visit, the grandfather, Wilbert Hunt, died. &8220;My mom was so upset until Dad said that we were going anyway so she could attend his funeral, and he went and bought a new car.&8221;

Along the way, the siblings practiced songs they planned to sing to relatives when they arrived in Natchez. &8220;Finally, we were going to meet at least one parent&8217;s real parents and see where Mom and Dad lived (Dad&8217;s family in Arkansas) &8212; a real school geography field trip. And it was 1958.&8221;

The first trip planted the seeds of curiosity about the family. As years passed, Denise Griggs wanted to know more.

By 1999, her zeal for genealogy prompted her to found the African American Genealogy Society of Sacramento, Calif. &8220;I was its president until last year,&8221; she said.

Griggs, at age 40, returned to college to complete her B.A. degree in theology and Christian education at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa. She went on to earn a master&8217;s degree in education-curriculum design.

&8220;My maternal grandmother (Bertel Hunt, whom she first met on the 1958 trip to Mississippi), who only had a third-grade education and was a sharecropper for many years, always encouraged me to go as far as I could go and learn as much as I could, as she always regretted not being able to see who she could be in life,&8221; Griggs said.

In 2004, Griggs visited her mother&8217;s sister in New Orleans. She was aware there were a few family photos. She found a gold mine.

At first, her aunt hesitated to share the pictures. But once Griggs showed how she could scan a photograph onto her laptop, &8220;she went into her room and came back out with pictures I had never seen before. So I scanned them, too.&8221;

The timing was good, Griggs said. &8220;Thankfully, I had the copies of the pictures when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans the following year,&8221; she said. &8220;Auntie&8217;s place didn&8217;t suffer too much but ended up being overrun by vermin and varmints, as my grandmother would have said.&8221;

Griggs learned that her great-great grandfather, Deck Hunt, founded a church in Roxie that still exists.

&8220;It is named the New Jerusalem Baptist Church, just between Kirby and Roxie,&8221; she said.

&8220;There has been remodeling and a monument is there with a dedication to our ancestor. They spelled it as Deke Hunt, but every record I have found has his name as Deck Hunt, as my grandfather pronounced it.&8221;

She also learned about an ancestor who was in the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War. &8220;I also have a copy of his pension application beginning with 1890.

Digging as deep as she could, Griggs found information on the Irish family who owned the plantation where her ancestors came to live and work as slaves.

Henry Hunt, son of Fitzmaurice Hunt, was the slave owner. The family came to America from County Tipperary, with more than 300 other people in the mid 1700s, Griggs said.

&8220;Most all returned to Ireland due to the impending revolution except for Fitz and his two brothers, Thomas and William.

&8220;They served in the American Revolution in Georgia and received bounties and land grants prior to relocating to Amite County,&8221; she said.

Griggs has researched at both the Natchez City Cemetery and the National Cemetery; she has transcribed from microfilm numerous African-American marriage records from the late 1880s to early 1900.

She has used National Archives records; &8220;Paths of Population of Diffusion &8212; Immigrants to U.S.; and numerous other archives.

The rich resources in African-American history in Natchez and surrounding communities are commodities that can be tapped, Griggs said.

She said she hopes someday those resources will be have a more prominent role in attracting researchers to Natchez.

&8220;It would be a shame not to highlight some of the successes and diverseness of our history,&8221; she said. &8220;One can only imagine the revenues that it would bring to the cities in your area.&8221;